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Employees Are Increasingly Calling In Sick Even When They Feel Great

Thirty-eight percent of employees called in a sick day over the past year, even when they were feeling great. That’s up from the same CareerBuilder survey released last year.

The careers website says the number of sick absences during a period of good health has reached its highest level since 2005, when 43% of workers made the same claim.

Jennifer Grasz, vice president of corporate communications at CareerBuilder, says, “This could indicate people are feeling more (secure) with their jobs.”

The problem has become widespread enough that one in three employers admit to checking if employees are in fact sick.

Grasz explains how those sick days are affecting employees. “If you end up getting caught, it could cost you your job, and even if it doesn’t … it could lead to your manager overlooking you for a promotion in the future,” she said.

How are employers checking in on employees? Many of them use social media to spy on workers and determine if they are truly sick or out having fun with family and friends.

Thirty-three percent of all employers surveyed said they have caught an employee lying about being sick by checking their social media accounts, and of those, 26 percent have fired the employee.

The survey interviewed 3,321 full-time workers and 2,326 hiring managers across industries and company sizes.

Many employers have combatted the hooky issue by limiting the number of sick days an employee received. If they call in for a fake reason but later become ill, they are forced to take unpaid days off.

Grasz explains that when employers start to see “ridiculous excuses” for missing work, it is typically from a repeat offender.